Improvement in sizings for window-shades



PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM DEVINE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SIZINGS FOR WlNDQW-SHADES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 117,520, dated August1, 1871.

To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM DEVINE, of Philadelphia, in the county ofPhiladelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented and discovereda new and improved mixture and combination for the purpose of sizingwindow-shades previous to the application of the paint or coloringmatter and gilding; and I do hereby declare that the following is a fulland exact description thereof.

The sizing heretofore used by me, and by all manufacturers ofwindow-shades, so far as I have any knowledge, is a solution of commonglue, and the defects of said sizing have been that it would not set orcongeal properly at a high temperature (say above 70 Fahrenheit) nor ina damp atmosphere, in consequence of which the manufacture ofwindow-shades had to be suspended during the hottest part of summer andwhen the air was damp; nor could the said shades, after sizing, be driedby artificial heat.

The nature of my invention and improvement consists in dissolving acertain quantity of powdered (or lump) alum in the solution of glue, thequantity of alum to be regulated by the quality of the glue and thethickness of the solution used on the particular kind of shade beingmanufactured-generally about one pound of alum to twenty gallons of thesolution of glue; which alum causes the sizing to set or congeal in anynatural temperature of any portion of the United States, (say up to 140Fahrenheit,) whether the air is thy or damp, and also allows the shadesto be dried by artificial heat.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention andimprovement, I will proceed to describe the mode of making it.

I first make the ordinary sizing heretofore in use by the trade, whichis common glue dissolved in water; after which I add the alum, generallypowdered to make it dissolve sooner; and after the alum is entirelymixed and dissolved in the solution the sizing is ready for use.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The introduction of alum as one of the component parts of the sizing tobe applied to windowshades, which causes the sizing to set and congealreadily and properly at the highest natural temperature or in a dampatmosphere, and also when dried by artificial heat, whereby themanufacture of window-shades can be carried on at all times of the yearand in all temperatures.

Witnesses: WILLIAM DEVINE.

JOHN DOLMAN, J AMES PENN MAcLAIN.

